Computers have become integral tools used in a wide variety of different applications, such as in finance and commercial transactions, computer-aided design and manufacturing, health care, telecommunication, education, etc. Computers are finding new applications as a result of advances in hardware technology and rapid development in software technology. Furthermore, the functionality of a computer system is dramatically enhanced by coupling these type of stand-alone devices together in order to form a networking environment. Within a networking environment, users may readily exchange files, share information stored on a common database, pool resources, and communicate via electronic mail (e-mail) and video teleconferencing. Furthermore, computers which are coupled to a networking environment like the Internet provide their users access to data and information from all over the world. Computer systems have become useful in many aspects of everyday life including providing entertainment to their users.
For example, a computer system may be coupled to the Internet and receive music from a wide variety of web site sources. There are different ways that a computer system may receive music via the Internet. One common way is for the computer to receive streaming music from a web site wherein the computer user typically does not choose the songs that he or she listens to but instead receives broadcast music. However, it should be appreciated that there are disadvantages associated with this streaming media technique for receiving music.
One of the disadvantages is that the computer user is unable to choose specific songs to listen to and have them delivered to his or her computer “on-demand.” Another disadvantage with the streaming music delivery technique is that as more and more computers receive the simultaneously broadcast music, the more and more congested the communication networks of the Internet become. In order to lessen the severity of this type of network congestion, media streamers usually decrease the data rate of the streaming audio in order to be able to handle more clients. However, by decreasing the data rate of the music, its fidelity is also degraded.
Some streaming music delivery systems require a participating computer system to acquire a proprietary audio player in order to receive and play music which has been encrypted so that the music is not distributed to others in an uncontrolled fashion. Nevertheless, there are disadvantages associated with this technique also. For example, one of the disadvantages is that the fidelity of the received music can be degraded as a consequence of its encryption and decryption. Additionally, an encryption process typically involves more data being included with the streaming music which may provide additional congestion to communication networks of the Internet. Another disadvantage associated with some proprietary audio players is that they are not compatible with certain computer operating system platforms which consequently restricts the number of computer systems that may utilize them.
Another technique for acquiring music with a computer is by accessing a music file sharing web site via the Internet. Currently there are a variety of different Internet music file sharing web sites accessible to computers. Typically, these file sharing web sites enable computer users to share music files in a point-to-point manner thereby enabling them to receive music which may then be stored by their computer for use or further distribution. It should be appreciated that there are disadvantages associated with this type of music file sharing technique.
One of the disadvantages is that the music file sharing computer users usually do not compensate the owner (e.g., record company, artist, etc.) of copyrighted music after receiving a copy of it. One of the reasons for this situation is that music file sharing web sites commonly do not control or even monitor the music being exchanged among different computers. And even when these web sites try to record and/or control the distribution of music, it may be thwarted by simply changing the file name of the song thereby enabling it to continue to be distributed freely.
Another disadvantage associated with the music file sharing technique previously described is that the music received may be a low fidelity product. There are different causes for this low fidelity. For example, there is usually no established quality level that has to be met in order to share music files via the Internet. As such, the original “source” of a shared music file is typically music copied from a compact disc (CD) to a computer which may be done in a substandard manner because an operator is not concerned with quality and/or does not even have the tools necessary to produce a high fidelity product. A further disadvantage associated with this music file sharing technique is that as more and more file sharing or swapping occurs, communication network systems of the Internet can get increasingly more congested thereby reducing the efficiency of data transfer between different computers.